Colorado plays role of Series newcomer

~ World Series opens tonight in Boston between Rockies and Red Sox.

BOSTON -- Jeff Francis looked at Fenway Park and sounded like the wide-eyed World Series rookie he is.

"I'm sure the Red Sox are used to this every day," he said Tuesday, with more than a bit of awe, "but we've never seen anything like this, the bus pulling up into the parking lot, and the trailers and the satellite dishes."

Welcome to the show, Colorado Rockies, a black-and-purple clad club of Tulowitzkis and Torrealbas unknown to many fans even now, after their amazing run of 21 wins in 22 games.

A team that didn't even exist until 1993 navigated through the cracked corridors and cramped clubhouse of Fenway, then played catch in front of 37-foot-high Green Monster in left and Pesky's Pole in right. Infielder Clint Barmes plopped into a red seat in row CC to take it all in.

Josh Beckett was set to start tonight's opener for Boston, and Francis was slated to pitch the for the Rockies. Much has been made of possible snow when the Series moves to Coors Field this weekend, but there was a 30 percent chance of rain for Game 1.

With Colorado coming off a record eight-day layoff since sweeping Arizona in the NL championship series, there's been a lot of debate about rust vs. rest -- and what better place to discuss rust than quirky old Fenway Park, which opened in 1912 and is filled with nearly a century of baseball sounds and smells.

"We will not apologize for winning quickly," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said to a roomful of laughter.

Last year, of course, the Tigers fumbled and flopped after a six-day layoff and lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in five games.

In some ways, the Red Sox have become the Yankees, an October fixture attracting national attention. Manny and his do-rag, Big Papi and Dice-K are TV staples.

The Rockies? They haven't been on a FOX Saturday broadcast since July 2004 and haven't appeared on an ESPN Sunday night telecast since June 2002.

"We've been called favorites since Day 1, and look at us," David Ortiz said, "here we are dancing and just taking it easy. We just have the edge, the attitude to become champions."

Boston overcame a 3-1 deficit in the AL championship series to beat Cleveland. That was nothing compared to what the Red Sox did in 2004, when they became the first baseball team to bounce back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven postseason series, upending the Yankees. Then they swept the Cardinals for their first World Series title in 86 years.

Boston took over the AL East lead for good April 18 and ended New York's run of nine straight division titles. The Rockies were fourth in the NL West at just 76-72 when their spurt began Sept.18. If not for two blown saves by San Diego's Trevor Hoffman, they wouldn't even have even won the wild card and made their first postseason appearance since 1995.

"We feel anonymous everywhere," third baseman Garrett Atkins said. "They're household names over there, and we're just not."

Both teams had some roster news Tuesday: Colorado's Aaron Cook, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 10 because of a strained muscle in his side, is down to pitch Game 4. Boston's Tim Wakefield, a 41-year-old knuckleballer, was dropped from the roster due to a bad shoulder and likely will be replaced by Jon Lester for the fourth game.